The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The invention firstly relates to an open roof construction for a vehicle, comprising a roof opening provided in a stationary roof part, a closure means which is movable between a position for closing said roof opening and a position for opening said roof opening, and a sunshade means which is movable between a position overlapping said roof opening and a position freeing said roof opening, wherein the closure means comprises a number of separate closure panels positioned, in the closing position of the closure means, one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, whereas the sunshade means comprises a number of sunshade panels positioned, in the overlapping position of the sunshade means, one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and wherein the closure panels as well as the sunshade panels assume a stacked position one on top of the other behind the roof opening when positioned in the opening and freeing position, respectively.
Such an open roof construction is known from DE-A-19851366. In this known open roof construction the closure means comprises a forward and rearward closure panel, whereas the sunshade means comprises a forward and rearward sunshade panel. In the opening position of the closure means and freeing position of the sunshade means these four panels are moved below the stationary roof part in such a manner, that all four panels are positioned one on top of the other. When such a configuration is used in an open roof construction, in which the closure means and sunshade means comprise a larger number of separate panels, the overall height of the stack of panels in the opening and freeing position of the closure means and sunshade means, respectively, would increase considerably, which may cause problems because of a reduced height of the passenger compartment of the vehicle.